G'day, ladies and gents. Am trying to identify age and answer a few basic questions about an older, gas-fired hot water boiler. Equipment is installed in a large (6,500 - 7,000 s.f.) home built in 1964. Nameplate says "American Standard", series is 1B-Z1, and serial or boiler number is G-408. Plate states input BTU is 525,000, and output BTU is 420,000. I can't seem to find any very specific information on the boiler age using typical web searches, and have to assume that the equipment is probably original to the home. My friend (the home owner) says the unit still works, but is trying to figure-out whether he should be budgeting for an eventual replacement. I suggested to him that if the equipment IS original (i.e. almost 50 years), he should probably be budgeting for a new boiler. Can anyone verify that this might be original equipment based on the plate numbers? And if so...is 50 years a good, general life expectancy for a cast iron boiler of this type? Finally, can I assume, based-upon the BTU information, that this was an 80% efficiency unit? Seems strange for a 1964 model, if that's what it is?? Thanks for your time and opinion(s).

08-26-2012, 06:00 PM

BaldLoonie

Yes, assume it is original. A-S boilers became part of Burnham somewhere in there. It has a steady state efficiency around 80% because of the way they rated input & output. But the figure that relates to the gas bill, annual efficiency is probably 60% or less. That means that during start up, shut down & off cycle, it loses so much heat that the 80% during run really means that 60% of the gas you pay for heats the house, 40% goes up the chimney. And 525K input reall spins the old gas meter :D

08-26-2012, 06:25 PM

thearcher

Thank you, I was afraid this bad boy wasn't really going to be providing 80% efficiency. Can't tell for sure if the unit's been well-maintained (no records available, no stickers on cabinet, etc.). I walked around the unit, looked underneath and inside the front cover/burner area, didn't notice any leaks or accumulated rust scale. Do these boilers often run-longer than 50 years, or is that already a good general life expectancy for similar equipment?

08-26-2012, 07:34 PM

BaldLoonie

50 isn't old by some boilers. There are some out there pushing 100 years old. I'd sure hate to pay that gas bill. My cousin just sold a house with a 60s vintage boiler. 1 prospective boiler was nervous but the guy who got it wasn't. His bills weren't bad.